Saturday, January 16, 2016

Martin Luther King, Jr.'s Steps in Redemptive Love

Resisting evil nonviolently is not for cowards or vengeance seekers

Martin Luther King, Jr. challenged civil rights activists to focus their anger away from destructive means and ends. He reflected on the transformation of anger into redemptive love after he committed to the way of nonviolent resistance in response to the evil of racism. The steps in redemptive love, he concluded, are:

First, “It is not a method for cowards, for it resists evil; it is not passive.”

Second, “it does not seek to defeat or humiliate the opponent, but to win his or her friendship and understanding.”

Third, it directs its attack “against forces of evil rather than against persons who happen to be doing the evil.”

Fourth, “it entails a willingness to accept suffering without retaliation…to accept violence if necessary, but never to inflict it.”

Fifth, it “avoids not only external physical violence but also the internal violence of spirit.”

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John Franklin Hay

John Franklin Hay, M.Div., D.Min., Indianapolis, Indiana, USA. Executive Director - Near East Area Renewal (NEAR) // Adjunct Faculty - Indiana University School of Public and Environmental Affairs (IUPUI) // Pastor, East Tenth United Methodist Church // community and cycling advocate

Twitter @indybikehiker

Read my Novel - 'What Saved Grace?'

My novel published in March 2013 as an ebook. It's a story about the beauty and complexity of compassion. Click on the book cover to go to my book page on Smashwords--it can be downloaded in any ebook format (including Kindle apps). It's available for Nook at Barnes & Noble online, as an iBook from the iTunes Store, and for Kindle at Amazon.com. Not available in print.